The Greens, the government and the climate have had a win in the parliament, with the Greens winning support for its amendment to the Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 to protect the Capacity Investment Scheme from a future Coalition government.

Adam Bandt is calling it ‘Dutton proofing” which is not unfair, given that even if Dutton loses this coming election he is likely to remain leader, because let’s face it, who is taking over? Angus Taylor? Sussan Ley? Luke Howarth? Come on.

The Capacity Investment Scheme is basically a way government can encourage renewables investment by underwriting it.

The Greens amendment means any changes to the underwriting scheme will have to go through the parliament. Because remember: it is a rare for a government to also control the senate. In that sense, Australia is always in minority government.

Bandt:

“Peter Dutton’s dangerous nuclear fantasy is a ploy to keep coal and gas in the system for longer, threatening investment in renewables. Locking support for renewables and storage into law will give the industry certainty that the transition is unstoppable.

“The Greens want to keep Peter Dutton out and get Labor to act in a minority government, but if somehow Peter Dutton ever makes his way to the Lodge, these amendments will keep his hands off the Capacity Investment Scheme and keep renewables and storage on track.

“If the Parliament works together like this we can get real action on the climate crisis.”
 

Still at the Climate Integrity Summit. and the Chair of Alliance of Small Island States and Ambassador and Permanent Representative for the Republic of Palau to the United Nations is speaking.

Her Excellency Ilana Seid is talking about the advancement of global climate justice and action, and the important role of small island nations in doing so.

She also spoke about how important Australia’s role truly is as a leader in this space.

Australia can be a leader in renewable energy exports, you have the resources the technology and the opportunity to be a beacon for others,” she said.

“This is not a distant crisis – it is here.”

There’s a theme here…. politicians and policy makers – take notes.

Back at the Climate and Energy Director at the Australia Institute, Dr Polly Hemming, is addressing the Climate Integrity Summit, making some pointed comments about Australia needing to act with integrity – and that even small players can wield great power and create change.

We have been conditioned to believe that we are powerless, that our voice is too small, our influence too limited – as individuals and as a nation,” Ms Hemming said.

“The question is not whether Australia has the capacity to lead with integrity, the question is whether the people in this building have the courage to do it.

“Australia is not small, we are just told that it is when our leaders want to avoid international responsibility for something.”

She has also highlighted how important it is for Australia to be a leader when it comes to progressive climate policy.  

“The stability of our democracy, the fairness of our tax system, the strength of our public institutions— all of it shapes how well we can respond to climate breakdown,” she said.

“Everything comes back to climate and climate affects everything.”

And on Trump and Israel’s threats that the ceasefire in Gaza will not move on to its second stage unless Hamas releases all the hostages (Hamas officials had said they would stop with the hostage exchange after accusing Israel of breaking the terms of the ceasefire by continuing to kill Palestinians, and have called on Israel to uphold its end of the bargain.)

This of course all comes after Trump announced the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians through the forced removal to surrounding states and the US ‘take over’ of Gaza. Trump is in Jordan trying to convince it of his plan’s ‘merits’.

Albanese says:

I want to see those terms continue. I want to see the ceasefire continue. I want to see hostages released as well. I think Australians overwhelmingly want to see an end to conflict there. They want to see as well, hostages released and they want to see an end to the involvement of terrorist organisations like Hamas. I think that overwhelmingly is what Australians want and they want in the longer term, Australia’s position remains exactly the same as it has been on a bipartisan level for a long period of time, which is a two-state solution with Israelis and Palestinians living in peace and security side by side, which John Howard, almost 20 years ago now made it very clear that the Palestinian question needs to be settled and that that was a key. Without that, it’s difficult to see there being peace in the Middle East. I want Israelis to be able to live in peace and security and prosperity, but I also want a peaceful region which includes the right of Palestinians to live in peace and security as well

There have been a few people write in and ask us why the Albanese government is offering to be the contingency plan for Rex airlines.

Here is the PM explaining it himself:

The point of Rex is it has a unique position. It’s not running major routes. In Qantas’ case, it’s an international airline and it provides a different service. We know internationally, Air New Zealand next door is owned more than 50 per cent by the government. And aviation, the reason why governments have intervened and airlines around the world, whether you look at Singapore, BA got bailed out, Alitalia, Lufthansa as well as, of course, the Middle Eastern airlines, all connected with their governments, whether it be Emirates, Etihad or Qatar, Gulf Air, these are all connected. There’s a reason for that. Because aviation plays a critical role in communities. And that’s why we’re not going to allow in a vast continent like Australia. We’re not going to allow communities to just be falling behind. I mean, this is doing the right thing by regional communities. As I said, our preferred option is for the private sector. There’s been one round, if you like, that what’s wasn’t successful. We are indicating there’ll be another round here, but we’re also providing certainty for those communities.

Let’s check in with the retail energy sector shall we?

Via AAP:

Electricity giant AGL Energy has reported a fall in interim profit as customers try to curb rising power bills during a cost-of-living crisis.

AGL on Wednesday reported a half-year statutory net profit of $97 million, down $479 million, as it responds to market pressure to exit coal-fired power generation.

Underlying profit was $373 million, down 6.5 per cent on a year earlier, on higher operating costs to maintain generation and as consumers swapped products.

“The retail market has seen high volumes of customer product swapping in recent years due to price increases and broader cost-of-living pressures, which have also increased pressure on margins,” chief executive Damien Nicks said.

The “strong first half” was in line with expectations, driven by the flexibility of the generation fleet and its ability to capture higher realised electricity pricing, including continued strong earnings from a growing portfolio of big batteries, he said.

Back to the climate integrity summit and the General Secretary of the g7+ Secretariat, Dr Helder da Costa, says global challenges like climate change exacerbate conflict, undermine stability and disproportionately affect fragile and conflict-affected states.

In his keynote address to the Climate Integrity Summit at Parliament House, Dr da Costa said Australia has “an integral role” to play in supporting the fragile nations, particularly those in the Pacific.

“Climate action, intended to mitigate and reverse the impact of climate change, is itself marked by injustice, Dr da Costa said.

“Wealthy and stable countries have the resources to shield themselves from the worst consequences of natural disasters.”

He points out despite clear scientific evidence about their impact on emissions, many developed nations continue to “deflect responsibility for their disproportionate role in this crisis” and countries like Australia must act.

“This includes financial commitments to climate adaptation, promoting sustainable economic development, and strengthening the capacity of Pacific nations to respond to crises—both natural and man-made,” he said.

“We must act now, not just for the benefit of the fragile states, but for the stability and security of the entire global community.”

The g7+, is an intergovernmental organisation of 20 countries spanning different regions, united by a shared vision of achieving lasting peace and stability.

Ok, so as was always going to be the case (but oppositions always do this) Michael Sukkar’s motion to suspend standing orders is knocked down by the government.

Nationals turned independent Andrew Gee is now giving the suspension of standing orders a shot, to try and bring on debate about his ‘keeping cash transactions in Australia’ bill, which seeks to, well, keep cash transactions in Australia.

Regional MPs such as Gee and Bob Katter want to make it a law to force businesses to continue to accept cash, given the move to electronic transactions only in a lot of businesses was turbo charged by the pandemic shut downs.

Katter had his own version of this play out in the parliamentary staff cafeteria, known as the ‘trough’ (everyone pays, although the prices are a few dollars cheaper than you would find in a private cafe) when he was told it was card only and had a Katter style reaction to it. The Speaker, Milton Dick, who is one of the presiding officers of the parliament (the people who make the rules about the parliament) was getting his own salad at the time, stepped in, and established that at least one cash register still had to accept cash (as a trial, which we understand is still underway).

The summit has brought together leading experts in economics, ecology, policy and governance to discuss a credible and achievable climate policy that serves the Australian people and broader global community.

In his opening remarks, The Australia Institute’s Executive Director, Richard Denniss, has pointed out the importance of the role of each individual in a democracy.

“In a democracy we can and we do stop people doing things that harm other people all the time,” Dr Denniss said.

He has pointed out that any talk of ‘transitioning away’ from fossil fuels is empty noise and stressed the importance of integrity.

“Australia is not transitioning away from fossil fuels we are doubling down,” he said.

“There is no transition taking place in Australia we plan to export more fossil fuels.

“Our public debate lacks integrity, we talk about transitioning away from something while expanding it – there is no integrity behind that.

“We collect more revenue from HECS than the Petroleum Resources Rent Tax.”

Other speakers today include Jennifer Robinson, Craig Foster and David Pocock.

Parliament started sitting less than an hour ago, but the shenanigans have already begun.

In the house, Michael Sukkar is attempting to suspend standing orders to bring on the government’s treasury bill which would change the luxury car tax and add in the fuel efficiency standards, because the Coalition have remembered they need to stand for Ford Rangers and Toyota Hiluxes.

(For the record, the Toyota Rav4 was the top selling car overall last year, with the Ford Ranger the top selling new car. So you know, consumers will get what they want)